Plan a Virtual Civil Rights Road Trip With Your Students!

As history teachers, we strive to create engaging and impactful learning experiences for our students. One such activity that I have used with students for many years that meets both criteria is a Civil Rights "Road Trip" modeled after a  project written about in the Spring 2012 issue of Learning for Justice. 

Plan a Civil Rights Road Trip:

At the conclusion of my unit on the Civil Rights Movement, my students are given the opportunity to embark on a "road trip" to significant historic sites from the Civil Rights era. I require students to select a minimum of five sites that played a significant role in the movement, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Greensboro Sit-Ins, the March on Washington, or the Selma to Montgomery March. I provide students with resource links to guide their research on each site.

Postcard Writing:

Once students have chosen their sites, they take on the role of time travelers and compose postcards to either real or fictitious recipients. In their postcards, students describe the site they visited and the experiences they had, incorporating a minimum of five facts and/or vocabulary terms related to the event. 

Creativity and Illustrations:

To enhance the visual appeal of their postcards, students can illustrate cards with original drawings or use images found online that accurately represent the site they visited. 

Students identify and label each site on a blank map to be turned in with completed postcards.